Latest News

The Board of Building Standards (BBS)  has released its proposed school door barricade Rule and set a Stakeholder hearing for November 16.  Definitions are included throughout the document which you’ll find below:  See especially pages 32 & 33 for operational definitions:  

Excerpt from pages 32 & 33:
1008.1.9.11 Temporary door locking device in school buildings. A temporary door locking device shall be permitted when approved by the building official and noted on the certificate of occupancy only in school buildings where the requirements of sections 1008.1.9.11.1 and 1008.1.9.11.2 are met. 

1008.1.9.11.1 Conditions of use. A temporary door locking device shall only be used on doors under the following conditions:

1. The temporary door locking device shall only be used in an emergency situation and during active shooter drills; and

2.     The temporary door locking device is engaged only by a staff member of the school building; and 

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The Board of Building Standards (BBS) Codes Committee has set September 21 and October 9 to meet to discus the rules for classroom barricades with the goal to begin the review process at the Board’s meeting on October 16.

On September 2 the Ohio Board of Building Standards issued an Advisory to school officials and fire department personnel cautioning schools against purchasing and deploying barricade devices before the BBS issues a ruling on their use.  

Following is the BBS Advisory:

House Bill 64 adopted by the Ohio General Assembly on June 30, 2015 included new Revised Code § 3781.106 which requires the Ohio Board of Building Standards (the “Board”) to adopt rules for the use of devices that prevent both ingress and egress through school doors in an emergency situation or during active shooter drills. These rules must be in place by March 2016. The Board has begun the rule development process and will have a stakeholder meeting later this year on proposed rules to receive comment from interested persons. These rules will establish guidelines for what devices may be used in schools. Schools are cautioned against purchasing and deploying devices before the rules take effect as some devices may not comply with the new rules.

Until these rules are adopted, please continue to work with both your local building and fire departments for any proposed alteration to your school building, including the use of any device that restricts egress. In general, the Ohio Building Code (OBC) requires and will continue to require the following for door operation:

1.  Egress doors should be readily openable from the egress side without the use of a key or special knowledge;
2.  Door handles, pulls, latches, locks and other operating devices on doors shall not require tight grasping, tight pinching or twisting of the wrist to operate; and
3.  The unlatching of any door shall not require more than one operation. Doors in the means of egress must be readily openable from the egress side without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort;

For questions about these or other building code requirements for schools, please contact:

Ohio Board of Building Standards 6606 Tussing Road
P.O. Box 4009
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
614 | 644 2613
BBS@com.state.oh.us 

The registration for the 2015 AIA Ohio Valley Region Convention to be held in Columbus, Ohio, October 11-13th, 2015 is now open.  Click on the graphic above to register for the Ohio Valley’s premier learning, networking and leadership event.

The AIA, in its July 24th edition of AIA Architect, launched its new and improved state economic indicator profiles.  Based on the work of the AIA and its Architecture Billing Index, the collection of indicators are intended to help architects make better business decisions.  The profiles will be updated semi-annually in July and January.  Click on the map to download a PDF copy of Ohio’s current profile, or visit Practicing Architecture | AIA State Economic Indicators to access the profiles of other states.

The data in these profiles help indicate the impact and importance of the profession in society.

Leadership Institute The AIA Leadership Institute is proud to announce the selection of our 2015 locations:

Boston, MA hosted by the Boston Society of Architects
Cleveland, OH hosted by AIA Cleveland
Phoenix, AZ hosted by AIA Arizona
San Antonio, TX hosted by AIA San Antonio
Washington, DC (Hub) hosted by the AIA Center for Civic Leadership

 As partners for the inaugural year of the re-envisioned and re-designed AIA Leadership Institute, these five locations will work together with the goal to bring timely, relevant, and interactive training to AIA members across the country. Taking place on Friday, October 23, 2015, the AIA Leadership Institute will be live broadcasted from our Hub Venue of Washington, DC to these four AIA Components. We will digitally connect in a one-day, shared national dialogue on leadership and architecture. The hybrid model leverages technology to live stream web-enabled video and in-person presentations. The program will showcase the best of national and local leadership knowledge. Anticipated attendance is over 250 participants. Please look for future communications with information on speakers, topics, and registration by visiting our website as updates continue to be announced: www.aialeadershipinstitute.com.

The AIA Ohio Valley Region 2015 Convention is quickly taking shape with registration expected to open in August. Centered at the Downtown Hilton, the convention is centrally located to members from throughout the state with events and activities planned throughout the three day event.  With great opportunities to network, earn learning units and experience presentations by national design leaders, this years convention will provide something for everyone.  Mark your calendar and save the date – October 11 through the 13th. To learn more about the convention, click on the flyer for more detailed information on keynote speakers and events.

The convention will feature many familiar events and programs, including the opportunity to earn up to 15 learning units.  Coupled with speakers such as Marshall Brown, Brian MacKay-Lyons and Monica Ponce De Leon, the event programming has been designed to meet the wide-ranging interests of our members.  With programming centered around the topics of Technology, Alternate Practice and the elusive “What is Next?”, the educational programs promise to be “anything but normal”

Save the date.  October 11th-13th, Columbus, Ohio.

The April results from the Work-on-the-Boards survey of architectural firms were released with a mix of good and bad news.  The ABI indicated a steep decline in billings, but future works trhough the New Design Contract Index and the New Project Inquiry Score seem topoint toward a healthier summer for many firms.  The key elements of this months ABI are as follows:

• After a soft first quarter resulting largely from severe weather across parts of the Northeast and Midwest, expectations were that design billings at architecture firms would rebound in the second quarter. However, at 48.8, the April ABI national score reflected a steeper retrenchment than any of the first three months of the year. However, the April report does hold out hope that business conditions at architecture firms will recover nicely as the year progresses. The new project inquiry score came in at 60.1 for the month, the strongest reading in six months, while the new design contract index score was 53.1, signifying the strongest growth for new work coming into firms since last November.

• Regional readings suggest that the weakness in firm billings has a geographic dimension. Firms in the Northeast reported another month of steep declines, while firms in the Midwest reported essentially flat business conditions. Firms in the South are seeing very healthy conditions, while those in the West have seen steady gains over the past two months. Billings scores by construction sector show how volatile the construction industry has been during this recovery phase. Billing scores for residential firms have been negative for three straight months, coming after more than three years of continuously healthy readings. Commercial/industrial firms also reported a downturn in April after two years of continuous improvement. Institutional firms, which had been the last major sector to see improvement in design activity, continued their upturn in April.

• Firms Have Hiring Designs: Weak business conditions in April, coming on top of a generally disappointing first quarter for the year, have not diminished firms’ expansion plans for the year. Just over half of firms surveyed this month indicate that they plan to add one or more architectural positions over the coming year. Of those firms adding of attempting to add positions over the past year, about a third indicated difficulties finding qualified applicants for all or nearly all of their open positions, about the same share that indicated difficulties in finding applicants for some of their positions.

More information is available at the AIA website on AIAArchitect

The 2015 AIA Ohio Design Awards Call for Entries has been released and you are invited to participate in this time honored program of recognizing quality projects designed by Ohio Architects.  This program will promote and focus on quality design, sustainability and the AIA’s 10 principles of livable communities.  The Design Awards program is a great way for firms and members to promote the architectural profession and value of architecture.  The deadline for submissions is July 15th and we don’t want you to miss this opportunity to be part of this years program.  Member architects who are the Designer of Record of projects completed since January 1, 2009 are invited to participate.  The projects will be recognized at the AIA Ohio Valley Region Convention in Columbus, Oh, October 11-13.  Don’t miss out!  July is just around the corner.  For more information , you can download the program submission requirements here, or you can setup an account and submit your projects here.